Bratton visit draws criticism

STOCKTON - William Bratton, a former police chief in New York City and Los Angeles, returns to the area today, marking his second visit to stump for Mayor Anthony Silva's half-cent sales tax proposal.

Scott Smith

STOCKTON - William Bratton, a former police chief in New York City and Los Angeles, returns to the area today, marking his second visit to stump for Mayor Anthony Silva's half-cent sales tax proposal.

The visit has drawn criticism even before Bratton's arrival in part because two events he is scheduled to attend fall outside the city limits.

Bratton this evening will attend a meet-and-greet at Jeremy Wine Co. in downtown Lodi for a small number of Stockton Safe Streets backers.

Friday afternoon, he will be on the panel in a symposium at Bear Creek Community Church on Lower Sacramento Road, which is open to 400 ticket holders.

The church is north of Eight Mile Road and the city's boundary. It, too, has a Lodi address.

Councilman Michael Tubbs said that holding the events outside of Stockton is indicative of how backers of the half-cent sales tax initiative have circumvented City Hall.

Tubbs said he isn't sure if he can get away from work for the 1:30 p.m. symposium, despite an invitation from Silva. Tubbs said he would prefer the events were held centrally in Stockton and involved locally accountable figures.

Tubbs doubted that many District 6 residents on the south side of town, whom he represents, will be able to attend.

"I wouldn't go to Lodi to hear a police chief from New York talk about crime in Stockton," Tubbs said. "I wouldn't do that."

The event and Bratton's visit are part of the controversial sales tax proposal that failed to gain support last month from the City Council, which voted against studying it further.

In the same meeting, the council voted to move ahead with the city's competing crime fighting effort called the Marshall Plan, despite the lone dissenting vote from Silva. Council members are expected to begin holding town hall meetings in the coming month.

This is not about picking sides but making Stockton safer, said Allen Sawyer, a political consultant and organizer of the Stockton Safe Streets symposium.

He defended against criticism directed at the locations of the Bratton events. Wine tasting is a draw to the region, he said, and the church opened its doors at no cost.

"Bear Creek Church is an asset to the Stockton community, whether it is technically in the city limits or not," Sawyer said. "We are proud to have our symposium there."

Sawyer will moderate the panel discussion with Bratton, Silva, County Supervisor Carlos Villapudua and developers Matthew Arnaiz and Anthony Barkett.

Some of the 400 tickets were given to the sponsoring church. Other local organizations received tickets, as did up to 100 "friends" of Stockton Safe Streets Facebook page.

The panel will weigh in on Stockton's crime statistics, the city's Marshall Plan and the Stockton Safe Streets tax proposal, which aims to raise $18 million annually to hire 100 police officers.

Sawyer said Stockton Police Chief Eric Jones was invited, but Stockton City Manager Bob Deis wouldn't let him attend. The tax initiative is designed to provide Jones with adequate resources, Sawyer said.

"Bratton isn't here to give any commentary other than to say Chief Jones is doing a great job," Sawyer said. "We're doing everything we can to scream from the rooftops that we've got a great chief."

Officer Joe Silva, a department spokesman, said on Jones' behalf that the symposium is viewed as a political event linked to a specific tax initiative. That's why the chief won't be there, Silva said.

"Chief Jones has attended and will continue to attend crime meetings in the public as he has frequently done in the past year," Officer Silva said. "The chief consistently engages the community ... and seeks input from the community for relevant solutions on how to make Stockton safer."

The event also caught a Sacramento-based news station in a complicated situation.

The KCRA 3 logo appears on the Stockton Safe Streets symposium's promotional material, but Lori Waldon, the Sacramento station's news director, said they are not a sponsor of the event, despite appearances.

KCRA 3 lent Stockton Safe Streets its logo, which Waldon said the station did happily, but it is not providing the venue nor lending its on-air talent. The station will produce a series of stories on the symposium.

"We're covering it as a story, not as a partner," Waldon said. "We think its very newsworthy and important."